Midfielder of the Lisbon Benfica João Mario at a press conference today dedicated to tomorrow's match of his team with Dynamo Kyiv in the playoff round of the Champions League, told what he expects from this meeting.
Joao Mario— We respect the opponent, but we really want to get into the Champions League group stage. Benfica will enter the field determined and strong from the first minute of the upcoming match, with the desire to impose on the opponent the game, rhythm and intensity necessary to achieve a positive result for us, which will allow us to confidently play the second leg.
We expect a very difficult game against a very organized opponent. We played against Dynamo last year (in the group stage of the Champions League - ed.), so we know this opponent well. This is a very high-quality team that has been playing in this roster for a long time. Dynamo, of course, knows us too. So don't expect any surprises.
We want to come into this match strong, take the game on ourselves, but there is always an opposing team on the field.
- What is the strength of Dynamo?
- First of all, the players of this team know each other very well and have a very clear idea of what they are doing on the football field. It is always important for any team to have such mutual understanding. In addition, Dynamo has an excellent coach, as well as players with international experience. The team had a great start to this season in the Champions League qualification. We respect our rival.
- Does the start of the Benfica season give the team confidence in this match?
— It was very important for us to start the season well. We know that our first main goal of the season is to qualify for the Champions League group stage. We did our best to get better from game to game, day by day. We have a new coach, new ideas, we play in a completely different way than last year. We managed to create enthusiasm among our fans, but now it is important to focus on the first big responsibility of this season.
- Benfica and Dynamo met last season. Does this give the team a better understanding of the opponent?
- Relatively. We played Dynamo in the group stage of the Champions League, but now it's the playoff stage. We understand that our rival may experience problems with freshness, since Dynamo has no league matches yet, but this is also very relative. The main thing is that we are ready, confident in ourselves, had a great start in the league and passed Midtjylland in the previous round of Champions League qualification.
